Responding to learners' perceptions of feedback: the use of comparators in second language speaking courses

Research into learners' preferences for feedback on L2 performance has primarily focused on feedback on their writing. In this article, I report the findings of a survey of the perceptions and preferences of international students attending in-session speaking courses at a British university. The students were asked to comment on a range of feedback activities and materials, including recordings of their own and others' performances on role-play tasks. The views revealed in questionnaire responses point to a wide divergence at the individual level - even among students from the same linguistic and educational culture - in learners' perceptions of what English teachers should do when providing Post-Task feedback, and in learners' beliefs about language learning in a wider sense. In the light of these findings, I discuss the classroom implications for teachers who wish to find practical ways of addressing this divergence of learner preferences for the nature and timing of feedback.